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This paper reviews the historical perspectives and contemporary perceptions of merit plans as tools to promote excellence and productivity. A review of literature involving merit plans, their success, and conditions linked with successful and unsuccessful plans is combined with a survey of deans of public and private business schools to determine perceived residual benefits of merit pay plans. Implementation problems are also addressed. Inasmuch as merit pay systems are currently being externally imposed on a number of public universities, this study --with its implications and suggestions for future research --should be of interest to administrators, departmental chairs, and faculty as well as to researchers involved in "merit pay" as a stream of research.

Young adults ages 16 to 24 were surveyed regarding their perceptions of alcohol warnings and the risks associated with alcohol consumption. Respondents who reported consuming larger quantities of alcohol perceived alcohol consumption to be significantly less risky than respondents who reported consuming smaller quantities of alcohol. There were no significant differences between males and females and between Hispanics and Anglos in the perceived risk of consuming alcoholic beverages.